What percent of the studies that are shared online with patients are actually read online by patients?

This question is asked because if physicians are anxious/concerned about receiving more communication (email/phone/in person) about these studies and they know that they are mostly being read by patients and phone calls/emails are not going up, this is reassuring beyond the reassurance that patients are active participants in their care.

And the answer is: for patients who are registered for access to MyGroupHealth (about 62% currently), 2/3rds of results are read by the patient.

So, 62% of the adult membership of Group Health Cooperative is signed up to use the MyGroupHealth portal, of those who are signed up and have an imaging study, about 2/3rds go online to review the result. That’s impressive. Theoretical focus group studies have shown that patients want to know (see: Now Reading: Patients want their radiology test results | Ted Eytan, MD). This experience shows that the studies aren’t theory.

Thanks to John Kaschko, MD, for providing this information and allowing me to share it.